


Warrior, Princess, Legend

by ravenclawswimmer



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Divergence, Death Totem, F/F, Renaissance, xena is a real historical figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-08 19:25:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17987189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenclawswimmer/pseuds/ravenclawswimmer
Summary: The Legends of Tomorrow go to Renaissance Rome in order to save the world from the second Roman Empire, led by a misplaced Xena Warrior Princess. Sara tasks herself with winning over Xena’s trust to stop world domination.A replacement episode for Legends of Tomorrow Season 3, Episode 14: Amazing Grace (because really, why would Elvis have the death totem?).





	1. We Came and Met a Princess

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not sure if anybody is actually looking to read a Sara/Xena femslash fic BUT I've been catching up on LOT and I’ve been rewatching Xena. I couldn't stop thinking about what if Xena was a real historical figure and the legends had to save her. So, I just really wanted to tell this story. Elvis shouldn’t have the death totem, that’s stupid. Xena should have the death totem. ALSO Xena/Gabrielle are OTP. This Xena is pre Gabs.

Previously on Legends of Tomorrow: Wally joined the team. They know they need six totems to capture a mollusk but they only know about five of them. 

\--

“All in.” Sara said as she glanced at Zari. Her face was blank. 

Ray, a few chairs away, having already folded, looked nervously from side to side. “Guys. Are you sure you want to wager your chores for the next month? I mean, as it is, hardly anyone actually follows the chart. Not to mention the work I would have to do to reconfigure it….”

“Shut up, Ray.” Both women said at the same time. Zari gave her cards one last look and was in the process of sliding her pieces into the center of the table when the Waverider jolted, sending the pot flying and jostling the cards on the table. The game would have to wait. They all headed to the bridge to find out what caused the latest timequake.

“Gideon, what’s the time disturbance?” Sara asks.

“Well, Captain, it appears that the Renaissance was stopped by the Second Roman Empire.” Gideon pauses for a second. “In 1511 all of the Italian City States were united in an effort to take over the world. All of the learning and creativity that the Renaissance brought came to a halt as money and resources were diverted to martial law and dictatorship.”

“What happens to the modern world without the Renaissance? What about the art, humanities, and science that brought us out of the dark ages?” asked Nate looking flabbergasted.

Gideon responded, “Those ideals seem to have been lost as funding was funneled from the church and into the army.”

Sara cut in, “Okay, more importantly, who is this ruler that brings the Second Roman Empire? Surely Cesar isn’t causing problems again.”

“Not Cesar. It was Xena of Amphipolis.” In response to this new information, the team had a wide range of reactions. Amaya, from a time before the Xena Scrolls were discovered, just looked confused. Nate and Ray looked equally excited to meet one of their heroes. Zari was trying to hold back a smile. Mick’s look of indifference remained unchanged, while a glint in Sara’s eye gave away how excited she was to meet up with the fabled warrior.

Sara asked, “When from her own timeline was she pulled? Gideon, bring up the leading authority on Xena.”

Gideon paused. “I’m sorry, Captain, Whoosh no longer exists. It appears the Xena Scrolls were never written.”

“Hmmm. That must mean she was pulled before she met Gabrielle. OK, go shine your tiaras. We’ve got a Warrior Princess to catch. Gideon, plot a course for 1511, Rome.”

\--

“Team. As the great Julius Cesar once said, we need to divide and conquer. I’m going to go undercover and befriend Xena, to try to stop this from the inside” snickers and eye raises from the team were met with a sharp look from their leader, “and I need the rest of you to protect the artists from Xena’s army.”

“Artists? Why should we care about them?” Rory monotonously growled.

“They aren’t just artists, Mick!” Nate exasperatedly started to explain. “They are men of higher learning! They transform our culture! They bring us into the modern age!”

Trying to keep everybody focused, Sara further explained, “Gideon has found that both Michelangelo and Raphael are in the most immediate danger here.”

Ray nodded knowingly and said, “Of course. It would be the party dude and bad boy!” Blank stares. “You know, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Cowabungadude! Turtle power!”

“Not now, Haircut.”

Sara continued, “Anyways, Nate, Wally, and Ray- you guys are team Michelangelo…”

Ray interrupted with a giant smile, “Team ORANGE!”

“Sure. He’s at the SIstine Chapel. Amya, Zari, you guys are with Raphael at the Vatican.”

Everybody looked to Ray, “RED!”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Mick. We aren’t ready to blow stuff up yet. Guard the ship.”

\--

Sara set off from the ship in dark tights, a cream-colored linen shirt drawn around her waist with a drawstring, with her batons stowed safely beneath the band. She felt a little bit like a knight of the round table without the armor, but she had great fighting mobility and that was her main concern. According to Gideon, Xena was camped with her growing army just outside of town. Sara’s plan was to infiltrate the army, climb the ranks, to befriend Xena. As she approached the camp, she was concerned not only about the amount of people that Xena had already amassed to her cause but also the type. There were skirmishes around almost every haphazardly set up tent. Power hungry younger Xena must not have been as meticulous and disciplined as Xena would eventually become. In any case, the disorganization would only help Sara sneak in unnoticed. 

Once in the camp, she quickly spotted the largest and most heavily guarded tent and easily took out the two guards by the door with a kick and a punch. She dragged both unconscious bodies by the scruff of their shirts as she ducked under the tent flap.

“Looks like you need better security,” Sara smirked as she tossed the two men on the ground. She tried to hide the fluttering in her stomach. Reading about the fabled Warrior Princess in the scrolls was one thing… seeing the live action portrayal of her in the 90’s was another thing… but seeing her in person? Even in the dim light of the candles in the tent, Sara could feel the power and strength emanating from Xena.

Sara took a better look at Xena’s clothing to try to track down when exactly in Xena’s timeline she was misplaced from. Xena was wearing a brown leather outfit with a golden chestplate that looked more protective (however less quintessentially Xena) than her classic breast swirls. Sara’s eyes flicked up to the silly maroon hat studded with gold that Xena wore on her head. Sara rolled her eyes and wondered how long she wore that hat before she realized how stupid she looked. Xena was definitely taken somewhere in the 10-year-pre-Gabs-period, though she was unsure when (a lot happened that year). Definitely after her visit to Chin as the brunette had no trouble bearing weight through both legs. 

Before Xena could even respond, the three men she was talking to started to lunge at Sara.

“Oh Xena, why are you hiding behind all these silly men?” Sara goaded. 

Xena stopped the men with outstretched hands before they reached Sara. With a scoff, Xena growled back, “I don’t hide behind anybody.” And with her classic war cry, she flipped over the table in the tent and landed softly a few feet in front of Sara with her sword drawn. 

Sara narrowed her eyes, extended her batons and snapped them together forming a staff. “Oh, an independent woman. Be still my heart!” She set her weight with her feet staggered in a ready position and gave Xena a smirk. 

Xena responded “Oh, I can help you with that,” and was on the offensive first, smiling with a look of joy in her eyes. She slashed her sword from side to side, testing the assassin’s reflexes.

SMACK. Sara blocked a blow from Xena’s sword “Oh Xena, I expected so much more…”

Xena twirled and tried a blow from the other side. 

SMACK. “No sword? Scared of the pointy end?” Xena countered.

Sara ducked down, spinning on one leg and tried to knock Xena’s feet out from under her. Xena jumped over and brought down her sword in an attempt to use her height advantage. However, Sara stopped the blade with her staff and calmly explained, “I don’t need a blade to kill.” 

She pushed up on Xena’s sword and the warrior was forced to take a step back. Xena looked annoyed. “Who are you? And what do you want?” she snarled.

“I’ve come to offer my services,” Sara replied with another smile.

Xena arched an eyebrow, keeping her sword in attack position. She scoffed, “I doubt you have anything I need.”

Xena attacked again, this time in full force, hacking with quick, precise slashes, but was unable to find an opening between Sara’s thwarting movements of the staff. Xena grew frustrated and careless. It wasn’t long until Sara knocked Xena’s sword out of her hand and swept Xena’s legs out from under her. Sara knelt down beside her and trapped Xena on her back with her staff pushing down on her throat. Sara leaned in and whispered into Xena’s ear, “Hmmm. I think you’ll find I have a lot of things you need.” Sara drew her head back slightly and cleared her throat. “I am here to help, though. What’s this I hear about taking over Rome?”

Xena licked her lips. “Everybody out.” She didn’t need to raise her voice to make the three men to trudge outside of the tent, dragging the still limp bodies of the two guards with them.

Sara hopped to her feet, introduced herself, and offered a hand to help Xena up. Xena smacked the helpful hand away with a look of disbelief, choosing to get up independently. She eyed Sara expectantly.

“Like I said, I’m here to offer my services,” Sara explained.

Xena reached backwards to sheath her sword and gave Sara a bored look. “I don’t need help. It hasn’t taken me long to amass this army. I’ve already convinced many of the Roman nobles to join me.”

“I see the army you’ve amassed. I don’t know if I would be quite so proud of it. I was able to gain audience with you awfully quickly…”

Xena sneered, “This is just the beginning. Rome is just the beginning. I’m going to take over each city state, one by one, until I conquer the world. This time, it’s MY destiny. And I’m not looking for help.”

The blonde pursed her lips. Of course. Of course, Xena’s anger at Cesar’s betrayal was what was fueling this take over. The warrior princess’ thirst for power was quite a motivator on its own, but with the chance for revenge at the man who crucified her and broke her legs? A chance to take over the world and remake the Roman Empire in her name? To do what Cesar was “destined” to do? When Xena was misplaced in history, OF COURSE she immediately found her way to Rome with the sole purpose of conquest.  
Sara didn’t know what to make of the young brunette standing before her. She was so different from the Xena she learned about from Gabrielle’s writing. She was easily goaded and quick to show her emotions. Her fighting style was feral, but joyful. Sara wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to win her trust, but she figured flattery was always a good start. “Xena Warrior Princess, Destroyer of Nations, Conquer of the World. It does have a nice ring to it.” Sara paused and then forged ahead, “You might not be looking for help, but here I am.” The assassin tilted her head to the side and smiled.

Xena walked around the table and flopped onto a chair opposite of Sara. The warrior princess leaned her elbow on the table and slung the opposite leg over the arm of the chair. On the table were rudimentary maps of Rome, battle plans, a chalice of wine, and grapes on a golden platter. Xena plucked a grape from the bunch and popped it into her mouth. “Well, there is one thing you could do for me.” Xena took another grape. “Many of my men are currently…. Otherwise occupied. You could go to the Vatican-“

Sara leaned over placing both hands on the table, glanced quickly at the plans on the table. Raphael was at the Vatican. “And… Bring you back a painter?” Sarah questioned.

Xena sniggered and haphazardly waved her hand around. “Painter? I don’t care about them. I don’t care about their frescos or their Pope. No, I want you to steal some bronze. Do you know how many weapons we can make out of one statue of David?”

Sara gave the warrior princess a smoldering look. “Most women want silver or gold. But, bronze it is.”

Xena grabbed another grape from the vine. Sara leaned in closer to suck the grape out from Xena’s fingers. Xena raised her eyebrows in surprise and gave Sara a side smirk. Without another word, Sara turned, and sauntered from the tent. She could feel Xena’s eyes tracking her as she left.

\-- 

Once out of ear shot of the tent, Sara reached for her coms. “Team… whatever color you are. I got a look at the plans and it looks like the next hit from Xena’s army is coming for the Sistine Chapel. I don’t think they care about Michaelangelo as much as plundering the chapel for jewels and gold.”

Nate responded, “Don’t worry, Captain, we are already in position and waiting. How’s our princess doing?”

Sara replied with a sigh, “She’s already got a whole following. If we remove her now, there are other people who are waiting and willing to take over her cause. We can’t risk kidnapping her and making her a martyr. Vatican team, we need to get our hands on some bronze statues. I need them to earn Xena’s trust.” Sara could hear some snickering over the coms. She ignored them as her eyes raked around camp. She needed a horse. She found a chestnut mare already bridled and smiled despite herself. She could be wrong, but she hoped she picked one of Argo’s descendants.

\--

Sara rode off towards the Vatican, blond hair blowing in the wind, enjoying the feeling of air whipping through her clothes. When she arrived, she found Zari and Amaya had already located a bronze block that had yet to be cast. This way they wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt of melting down a priceless work of art. They rigged up a cart and Zari used her wind totem to lift and set the block on the cart. At the last second, Zari appeared to lose control of the wind. The block landed with a loud thud, dropping the final 2 inches, and almost splintering the cart. 

Sara looked up at Zari with confusion written on her face. She grew more concerned when she saw Zari’s totem glowing and floating off her neck. “What’s going on guys?” Sara asked.

Both totem bearers looked down in confusion at Zari’s necklace. Zari answered, “My totem is reacting to something.”

“Okay. Back to the ship. Do some research. We still don’t have any idea how to use the totems against Mallus or even what all of the totems are,” Sara ordered. Sara raised her hand to her ear to press the com. “Chapel team- update?”

“All clear. There was a party of twenty or so that tried to attack but they were handled no problem, no powers,” Wally responded.

“Hmm.” Sara wasn’t used to the Legends solving things with no problems and no powers. “Great, well keep your eyes open. I’ve got some bronze to deliver.”

\--


	2. We Saw and Made Things Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Legends of Tomorrow go to Renaissance Rome in order to save the world from the second Roman Empire, led by a misplaced Xena Warrior Princess. Sara tasks herself with winning over Xena’s trust to stop world domination.
> 
> A replacement episode for Legends of Tomorrow Season 3, Episode 14: Amazing Grace (because really, why would Elvis have the death totem?).
> 
> Chapter 2: Sara learns about the sixth totem and bonds with Xena

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning- it gets a little steamy with no consent talk...

Sara left the horse and bronze outside camp. She wanted to see how Xena would respond to the news that her raiding party had been thwarted before delivering on her end of the deal. Sara snuck around to the back of Xena’s tent and paused when she heard Xena talking to what sounded like a young boy. She leaned her ear closer to the fabric of the tent and listened intently-

“… I know, I know Lyceus. I know you don’t agree with me, but this is what needs to be done…”

She heard the reply of a low voice and furrowed her brow. Xena’s brother Lyceus should be long dead if this was the Xena from 10-years-pre-Gabs. She sank to the ground and gently lifted up the cloth an inch. She peered under to see Xena talking to…. A shimmering and translucent light-haired boy that shared many of Xena’s facial features. And glowing around Xena’s neck was a black stone on a leather band. She took slow and steady steps away from the tent and tucked into a grove of trees on the edge of camp near her bronze block.

She brought her hand up to turn on her coms. “Well I just saw Xena talking her dead brother with a glowing black necklace.”

Zari responded, “Glowing necklace like a totem? And dead brother like a ghost?”

Sara said, “I’m just telling you what I saw.”

“Well, Constantine just sent over some information about something called ‘A Death Totem,’” Amaya responded. “It gives the bearer dominion over the dead. Looks like Xena may be the newest totem bearer.”

“Isn’t that interesting. What is Xena doing wandering through time with a lost totem?” Sara wondered aloud. “Keep researching this death totem. Keep Xena’s army from ransacking works of art. I’m heading back to the princess to see if I can find out more.”

\--

Sara wandered back into camp. When she approached the leader’s tent, two new guards stepped together in front of the flap in a feeble attempt to stop the assassin. Sara chuckled as she knocked their heads together and proceeded inside. 

Xena glanced up as she entered. “You don’t have to keep taking out my guards.”

“Hmmm, I don’t have to. That’s true.” Sara replied with a grin. “Your bronze is outside.”

“Well at least I can rely on someone here,” Xena replied pointedly at the abashed man standing beside her. Sara noted his bloody nose and smiled to herself, proud of her team. Xena narrowed her eyes at the man and he visibly flinched. “I’ve heard enough of your excuses. You can go.” Dismissed, the man gave a stiff half bow and stumbled out of the tent.

Sara leaned casually against the table. “Didn’t get everything you wanted today?”

Xena rolled her eyes. “Men are such idiots. I should have gone to the raid myself.”

Sara replied with a soft hmmm. Sara glanced down at the maps on the table. The largest one was a rough sketch of modern-day Italy, with dots marking the biggest cities and names of the wealthy families in each scribbled around them. She wished she had listened closer to Nate’s rambling about the powerful families of the Renaissance. She may not need his expertise when it came to Xena’s history, but sixteenth century Italy was another matter. She recognized the Medici family in Florence, but couldn’t make heads or tails of the rest. Her eyes fluttered up to Xena who was watching her take in the map. “Well, for planning to conquer the world, you have a way to go, but it does look like you are off to a good start here in Rome” Sara said as she pointed to the family names around Rome. Some of them were checked off, 2 were crossed off, and only one was untouched. 

“The Roman nobility came flocking to me. They were tired of the relentless taxes to the church when their money is wasted on trinkets and decorations. They crave power.” Xena explained.

“And Florence? Milan?” Sara asked leaning over the map, gesturing at the cities. Xena took a step closer in and leaned over as well.

“Don’t worry, they’ll come around to our side of thinking soon.” Xena pointed to Florence, her fingers lightly brushing against Sara’s. Sara felt the warmth from Xena’s arm and was aware of how close they were standing. She felt heat rush to her cheeks and turned her head to face Xena’s. She could smell a hint of wine in Xena’s breath through the strong smell of leather. She took a deep steadying breath and tried to snap her attention back to the task at hand but was having difficulty focusing on anything other than how close she was to the warrior. Sara was startled from her thoughts when the tent flap opened.

“Commander. Sorry to interrupt. Scouts on the Northern side of the city have seen a large party headed our way,” the man explained.

“Who are they?” Xena inquired. When she got only a blank look in response, she huffed and continued, “Do they have any banners? Weapons?” 

“None that I know of. They are coming from the direction of Florence, but we do not know for what purpose.”

Xena took a second to think about her options. She turned to look at Sara and made up her mind. “Let’s see what kind of skills you can actually offer me.” Xena turned back to the other man. “We are going to investigate it ourselves. You are in charge. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” The warrior princess didn’t need to explain how she arrived at this conclusion; her thinking was clear to Sara. Not only did she not trust her men to find out more about the large party quietly, but it was the perfect opportunity to keep Sara close while she assessed her allegiances. As for Sara, she was secretly delighted to have more time with Xena. There was something about the ancient warrior that she was irresistibly drawn to.

\--

They set off from camp on horseback on the road to Florence. Sara felt smug that the horse she chose for her mission to retrieve the bronze was clearly Xena’s horse. Xena selected a brown mare for her this time. Once they made it to outside the encampment, Xena turned to Sara and said, “Let me know if you need me to slow down so you can keep up.”

Sara replied with a simple, “Okay” before she was off galloping down the dirt road. She heard Xena blow air out through her nose with frustration and then a quick succession of ya!’s. Soon the only sounds they could hear were the thundering horse hooves. When the assassin glanced back, she could see Xena smiling as she crouched down low on her mare, knees pinned to the horse’s sides.

When the road abutted a small creek, they slowed their horses down for a quick break. They had just brought their packs down, still bent over at the waist, when they heard a faint rustling in the bushes. They looked up and their eyes met. They stood slowly up and saw men approaching from opposite sides.

The man on Xena’s left spoke first, “We don’t want to hurt you ladies. Just hand over your coins and horses and we will be on our way.”

Xena replied with a grin, “You definitely don’t have to worry about hurting us.” The women turned to stand back to back to assess the situation. Three men were approaching from each side. Xena whispered to Sara, “there’s only 6 of them. This hardly seems fair.”

Sara whispered back, “No weapons?”

“Hmm. Still too easy. I bet I can take out more than you.” Sara could hear the joy in Xena’s voice.

Sara scoffed. “Loser makes dinner tonight?”

Xena replied with a “alalalala” as she flipped backwards over Sara, and was already grabbing a goon by the back of his shirt as Sara rolled her eyes and muttered “the flips seem excessive.” Nonetheless, Xena did get a quicker start than her, and Sara hated losing bets. She was approached by two men, one in the front and one at her back at the same time. She grabbed the man in front of her and threw him over her back, toppling 2 goons with 1 swing. She turned and started to run at the third, but he turned to flee as a look of pure fear overtook his face. She spun again to find Xena putting the pinch on the final thief. 

“I’ve cut off blood flow to your brain, you only have 60 seconds to live.”

“I’ll tell you anything you want!” the man sputtered as blood started to leak from his nose, tendons in his neck drawing taught.

Xena leaned in close and softly asked, “Is there a good place to go fishing around here?” 

Sara shook her head. “Xena. Seriously?”

“You were the one talking about dinner tonight….”

“Xena. Just let him go. They are clearly in over their heads.” Sara gestured to the other men attempting to crawl away from the scene.

Xena shrugged and took off the pinch. As the man scrambled away, Xena whistled for the two horses. “I mean, we tied. Somebody’s got to think about dinner.”

\--

“So, will you teach me the pinch?” Sara asked as they continued down the road.

“No.” Xena replied with a look of disbelief.

“How to throw the chakram?”

Xena scoffed. “Definitely not.”

“How to catch an arrow?”

Xena shook her head. “Reflexes.”

Sara paused for a minute, thinking. “War cry?”

“Are you kidding? That is instinctual. Can’t be taught.” Xena responded incredulously.

Sara smiled and let out her best “ayayaya” at Xena. She raised her eyebrows as Xena palmed her face in frustration. 

“How am I going to be your second in command if I can’t do the war cry?” Sara asked.

“Who said anything about second in command?”

“It seems like I’m the only one who can give you want you need.” The blonde leaned toward Xena with a suggestive smirk.

Xena grinned back. “It is hard to find good help.” And with that, the warrior gave her patented war cry as she urged her horse onward toward their destination. The undulating, unmistakable call reverberated in Sara’s bones and as she fought to keep up with Xena. 

\--

They rode on until they saw a large group peeking through the horizon. They roped their horses and climbed a hill cresting the road for a better view of the party. They laid down on the ground and crawled to the edge, keeping their bodies low on the firm soil. The men in the group had no banners and no apparent weapons. They were clumped in small groups of 3-4 people. As Sara looked closely at each group, she saw slight differences in clothing.

Sara turned to look at Xena, whose eyes were narrowed as she looked at the approaching men. “They are all traveling together, but they do not seem to be completely unified,” Sara whispered.

“No, they do not.” Xena whispered back, not elaborating.

Sara peered at the party once more. “Do you think they are coming to aid the Pope?”

Xena eyed the party for a few seconds before responding. “Can you see you small emblems on their vests?”

Sara focused her eyes to better see.

The warrior continued, “It’s hard to tell from here, but it looks like a gathering of many different families- Medici, Gonzaga, Sforza… maybe more. I don’t see any weapons so I do not think they are reinforcements for the Pope. More likely, they are here to find out more about me. It doesn’t really matter either way. If they do not cooperate, I will kill them all.” Xena’s eyes widened as her voice became harsh. 

Sara was once again taken aback by how unstable and emotional young Xena was. Sara placed a hand on Xena’s forearm, and soothingly said, “The last thing you need is to give the other cities a reason to unite against you. If you kill them all, that is exactly what is going to happen.”

Xena scoffed.

Sara pressed her fingers a little harder into Xena’s forearm. “Find a way to separate them and then you can kill them all when you are ready.”

They watched the party slowly trudge down the road and Sara could tell her companion was deep in thought. They snaked back down the hill and gathered their horses. Sara glanced at the sun that was gliding towards the horizon.

Sara turned and said, “It’s getting late. I don’t think we have enough time to make it back tonight.”

“Nope, we need to look for a place to camp.”

\--

The sun was starting to set as Sara collected firewood. Xena was off searching for food and while Sara was tempted to see Xena fish barehanded, she needed the alone time to mull over any possible solution to fixing history. Xena had to be removed before she caused more damage, but they also had to disband her growing army. There was also the small issue of the death totem that somehow Xena was now in possession of. Sara was no closer to a plan when she trudged back to their camp site with twigs and branches in tow. She found a block of wood and started spinning a stick between her hands attempting to catch a spark. Impatiently, she thought wistfully of Mick and his heat gun. But she was determined to get this fire started the old-fashioned way.

The kindling was beginning to catch as Xena approached with a few fish in tow. Sara busied herself adding larger sticks to the fire as Xena skillfully filleted the fish. Xena seemed quieter than usual and lost in thought. 

Xena tossed the fish on a pan and handed it to Sara. “I caught them. You gotta cook them.” 

Sara smiled and held the pan over the fire. She couldn’t believe her luck. She was literally cooking dinner, sitting by the fire, and camping with the fabled warrior princess.

Xena narrowed her eyes at Sara, clearly not understanding what was making her smile. Xena poked the fire with a stick and asked, “So, where did you learn to fight?”

Sara looked up from her cooking, “I trained as an assassin.”

“For an assassin, you sure convinced me NOT to kill a lot of people today.”

“We weren’t trained to kill just for the kill. We were tasked to kill those that are a danger to society.”

Xena gave Sara an unconvinced look and scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“You might be surprised how your views on that could change.” Xena threw a leaf on to the fire and watched it burn. Sara glanced at Xena and continued, “Why do you do this, then?”

Xena turned to her companion and gave her a puzzled look. “Why would I not do this? Who doesn’t want more power? I’m not going to stand idly by and watch while other people in society leave their mark.”

“So for your own glory and greatness.”

“Does anybody else’s glory and greatness matter? You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy beating up those men today. I saw the glint in your eye. Competition, even if you know you are going to win, brings out the best in us.”

“It isn’t just about winning, it’s about the cause. The way you are remembered matters, too.” Sara countered.

“The way that I am remembered? No amount of good deeds could change the way that I am remembered. You have no idea the things that I have done. The things that I am capable of.” Sara could see Xena visibly shutting down, her face becoming a mask.

“Xena,” Sara looked into the warrior’s blue eyes and placed a hand on her warm thigh, fingers grazing the edge of her leather skirt. “I do know you. I have done things that I regret as well. But we can’t let the… sins of the past… control our future.”

“What makes you so sure?” Xena asked, gazing directly back into Sara’s eyes.

“I can see the real you.”

And suddenly, Xena’s hard mask broke and she leaned in, roughly pressing lips against Sara’s. Sara’s thoughts switched off as she unconsciously surged forward against the warrior, deepening the kiss. Xena shoved Sara back onto the bed roll and slotted her knee between Sara’s thighs, pinning the assassin’s arms above her head. A moan escaped the blonde’s lips and she realized she had to stop this before it was too late.

Sara uncoupled their lips and softly breathed “Xena….” 

Xena started to plant a trail of rough kisses and bites down Sara’s neck as Sara arched her head backwards. She tried again, more forcefully, “Xena. Wait.” Xena stopped her trail of kisses and kept Sara pinned down while she waited for the assassin to continue. “I haven’t been entirely truthful with you. I don’t want you to think that I am simply using you…”

Xena harshly pushed herself off Sara, lying on her side. “I’m listening.”

“I’m from the future… a future where you aren’t here. I came to protect history and bring you back to the time where you are from.”

“Why would I want to go back there? I am on the cusp of all of dreams here!”

“These dreams aren’t your dreams. This is Cesar’s dream. This is you trying to take out revenge on a man who has been dead for over a thousand years.”

“You don’t know anything about Cesar!”

Sara paused. “This isn’t what Lyceus would want you to do…”

That clearly hit a nerve. Xena was up standing in less than a second with danger in her eyes. “Do NOT speak about my brother!”

Sara jumped up and put her hands placatingly up, trying to calm the beast she had created. However, it seemed that the time for taming Xena had passed. 

“No one can stop me! I WILL rule this world!” As Xena yelled, the death totem around her neck started to glow and float off of her neck. “Lyceus doesn’t know what is best for him! I will KILL all that stand before me!” The warrior princess outstretched her arms and began floating inches off of the ground as blackness overtook her eyes. Wind started to whip around Sara and she felt static electricity zing as the hairs on her arm stood on edge. She watched as Xena’s black hair rose ominously.

Sara was already started to step slowly backwards when she felt the ground start to rumble. In the distance, she saw countless iridescent forms rise out of the ground and float towards Xena. As Sara’s eyes widened, she pressed her coms-

“Gideon! We have a problem!”

Mick grumbled, “Seducing the princess not going as planned, captain?”

“Nope! I need to evacuate. Now.”

Ray responded, “Yeah no kidding. We just went from a level 5 anachronism to… OFF THE SCALE”

Sara ran at full speed away from necromancy powered princess and her growing ghost army. She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the rumble of the Waverider’s engines overhead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes! Enraged Evil Xena + ghost army. What are the Legends going to do?
> 
> Final chapter should be up soon!


	3. We Conquered the Death Totem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Legends vs Xena

Back on the ship, Sara got the team together to regroup. 

“… so then she started floating and raised an army of ghosts,” Sara explained while rubbing her forehead in frustration.

Wally’s eyes enlarged, “She can raise the dead now?”

“SHE HAS MANY SKILLS!” Nate and Ray yelled at the same time with huge smiles, eyebrows raising in amusement, accented by a quick high five. 

Sara rolled her eyes. “Yes, so I’ve heard. And now we have to fight all of her many skills, her human army, and her ghost army. Anybody got any ideas?”

Mick brought his heat gun up and placed it into his left hand. “Looks like it’s finally time for the fun to start.”

The captain sighed. “Unfortunately, I think he is right. We need to draw Xena and all of her forces to fight us instead of doing further damage to history.”

\--

The team arrived on the outskirts of Xena’s camp in full battle gear. They were going to have to erase memories now so they might as well look good as they fought. As the anachronism grew, they realized they had held off the interference of the Time Bureau long enough. Sara made a quick call to send in reinforcements to deal with the cleanup of the army once the Legends took care of the threat to history. Their first goal was to isolate and protect Xena’s human forces from her phantom legion. As they looked around to assess the camp, it became apparent that separating the two forces would be easier than expected. The humans were gathered off to the corner of camp with looks of apprehension and alarm at their newest immortal counterparts. 

Xena, on the other hand, was standing in front of perfectly spaced ghost battalions, shouting instructions. Her eyes were still jet black, though Sara was relieved to see her feet were firmly on the ground. Despite the calm weather, Xena’s hair was gently swirling around her, and Sara could practically feel the power emanating from her. The assassin couldn’t control the goosebumps that were popping up on her arms.

“Damn.” Nate breathed out on his first view of Xena. He spoke for the whole team. Everyone’s eyebrows were raised in awe.

“She’d be perfect with 1 more boob…” Mick grumbed, so softly only Zari heard. She crinkled her eyebrows together and rolled her eyes choosing to ignore the pyromaniac rather than dignify him with a response.

Sara took a steadying breath and began giving orders. “Okay. Wally, Amaya, Nate, Ray- you guys are in charge of getting the humans safely to the Time Bureau team. Mick, Zari- you are with me. We are going to lure our favorite Destroyer of Nations away from the humans.”

And with that, the team was off. Amaya, Nate, and Ray made short work of convincing the humans to flee the camp, while Wally used his super speed to take care of the stragglers. To keep Xena from realizing her army was shrinking by the second, Sara unleashed Mick, letting him use his gun to leave a wall of flaming tents in his wake.

Xena, enraged at the destruction of her encampment, drew her sword, raising it above her head and savagely yelled, “Kill them all!” to her ghost army.

Sara muttered, sarcastically “Kill them all” as she turned away. Ugh, evil Xena really sounded like a broken record. Once again, Sara found herself sprinting at full speed away from the malicious warrior princess.

“Okay, so we’ve succeeded in luring Xena to us. What do we do now?!” Zari yelled while rushing to keep up with Mick and her captain.

“I don’t know! Send some wind at her or something!”

“I don’t want you to think I have totem envy or anything… but I doubt that’s going to slow her ghosts down too much.” Zari pressed on her necklace and sent a gust of wind behind them without looking back.

Sara raised a hand to her ear, “Whenever you guys finish up with the humans, we could really use some help. We are heading towards the Colosseum with a mad princess and her merry band of Caspers!”

Nate responded, “On our way!”

Sara and her two teammates skidded to a halt as the entered the crumbling arena with Xena on their heels. As Xena arrived, she paused for a second to take in her surroundings. “Perfect place for a rematch, Sara. Aren’t you glad there’s no audience to watch you die?” The phantoms lined the circular edge of the floor creating an eerie border as the rest of the Legends arrived. 

Sara whipped out her two baton staffs and readied herself for the attack. Xena pulled out her chakram and let it fly straight at Sara’s neck. The assassin ducked not a moment too soon and heard the whizz of the circular weapon fly by above her head.

Just as she stood up, she heard the weapon plunk off of a nearby wall and heard the whizz heading straight for her once again. She had to quickly jump off to the side. 

“Somebody!”

-Whizz-

Duck.

“Stop this”

-Whizz-

Jump.

“DAMN”

-Whizz-

Fall to the ground.

“CHAKRAM”

Mick tried to incinerate the weapon but unfortunately only charred the edges, taking away the gleam but doing nothing to stop the unending ricochet. Zari had more luck sending a strong gust of wind that changed the direction of the spinning missile, however sending it straight towards Mick. Wally sped to whisk him out of the way as the chakram finally embed itself into the wall of the Colosseum. 

Mick reluctantly thanked the speedster and threw Zari an irritated look.

The rest of the team was trying to find something, anything that affected the ghosts. Ray fired a missile that passed straight through the spirits but took down a large section of the wall of the arena while Nate’s steel fists threw ineffective punches that passed straight through the apparitions. 

Sara jumped up to see the unrestrained amusement on Xena’s face and charged the brunette. The batons and sword clashed again, but this time immediately in full force. Wally, sensing Xena’s distraction during the fight, used his super speed to tear the death totem off the warrior princess’s neck while she traded blows with the assassin. He held the necklace triumphantly in his hands, however he frowned when he looked around at the ghost army that continued to patrol the edge of the Colosseum.  
His shoulders dropped, “Why are they still here?” he asked to no one in particular. 

Amaya reached out for the mysterious sixth totem. “Maybe I can use it?” she ventured. She was still feeling lost after her spirit totem was taken, however she did have practice harnessing the power of a totem. Wally tossed it to her and immediately started running laps around the stadium through their invincible foes, a lightning path streaking through the white glow.

Amaya slipped on the necklace and frowned. “It doesn’t feel… right.” She grimaced with concentration. “I can’t get them to listen to me…”

Meanwhile, the two warriors were still engaged in an equal contest, the clash of sword and batons echoed throughout the stadium. Sara could see the warrior’s forehead beginning to glisten with sweat and felt her own hair starting to stick to the sides of her head from effort. Sara blocked another of Xena’s hard swings and yelled through gritted teeth, “If you can’t control the army, then just try to bring back Lyceus.”

Amaya closed her eyes and trained her thoughts on Xena’s lost younger brother. She felt the ground start to lightly quake and saw his curly hair before passing out into Nate’s outstretched arms.

Xena screamed with rage. “How dare you bring my brother here!”

Sara took a step back and said, “I’m just showing him who you’ve grown up to be.” She kept her batons up in defensive position as she waited to see if the ghost could talk his sister down.

Lyceus brought his eyebrows together in confusion and asked his older sister, “What’s going on Xena? You promised me there would be no more bloodshed on this crazy quest.”

Xena sighed. Her eyes tamed and narrowed as she said, “You just don’t understand what needs to be done, brother.”

“You’re right. I don’t understand why you feel the need to do this. I supported you defending our home from invaders. But now, you are the invader, Xena.”

“I’m only taking what should be rightfully mine!” Xena said randomly gesturing to her surroundings.

Sara took slow steps further away, joining her team, watching the siblings talk. Lyceus was inching his way closer to his wayward sister until he was directly in front of her.

“Xena, you know that’s not true. You’re not even supposed to be here.”

Xena reached out to touch her brother, only to have it slip through air. She let the breath out of her lungs and whispered, “I would do anything to have you back.”

Lyceus gave Xena a regretful look, “Well taking over the world isn’t going to bring me back. And taking over the world is also not going to bring you revenge against, Cesar, a man long dead. What you’re doing doesn’t make any sense, Xena….” He gestured at the ring of Xena’s army.

“Doesn’t make sense? Look at all of the power I have! I can do whatever I want and no one can stop me!”

“Xena, look at this army- have you noticed you no longer have any of your original followers under your command? That’s because they are all scared of those you’ve brought back from the dead. You may take over all of this land, but nobody is going to be left here.”

Xena furrowed her eyebrows. “Why do you even care what I do?”

“Because I don’t want you giving in to anger and darkness and telling yourself it’s because of me. Because it’s not.”

Xena sighed. “There’s not a moment that goes by that I don’t regret what happened to you.”

“There was nothing that you could have done to save me for Cortese. And nothing that you can do now that will change that. My fate was sealed then, but yours is not…” Xena started to look away, but Lyceus blocked her view, forcing her to look into his eyes. “You have to let me go rest now.” Lyceus gave Xena a pleading look.

Xena looked down at the ground. “Don’t think I’m listening to you now because you know more than me. You’ll always be my stupid little brother.” She sheathed her sword and her eyes changed from black to icy blue. The ghost army, released from their duties, floated back towards their final resting places taking their eerie radiance with them. Lyceus gave his sister one last nostalgic smile before fading back into the totem still around Amaya’s neck. Xena turned away and walked over to her chakram and roughly grabbed it from the wall. She attached it back to her waist and waited for the inevitable.

“Let’s get this over with before I change my mind,” Xena mumbled as she waited for Sara to gently place her in handcuffs. Sara led the broken warrior back to the ship with a hand silently directing her elbow. 

The rest of the team assessed the damage of the Colosseum as they slugged back towards the Waverider. “Eh, it’s over a thousand years old… I’m just glad it’s still standing after you tried to destroy it,” Nate whispered to Ray as they walked through the gates.

\--

Back on the ship, with Xena safely stowed in her cell, they watched the anachronism level shrink to 0. With a sigh of relief, Sara went to check on their prisoner. She was sitting in the cell, head bowed, shoulders slumped, hardly the Destroyer of Nations that she once was. Sara used her hand to unlock the cell and stepped in.

“Hey Princess,” Sara quipped with a halfhearted smirk.

Xena looked up but remained silent.

“I just wanted you to know that while I wasn’t completely honest with why I came to you, I didn’t lie about how I feel about you.” Sara searched Xena’s eyes for a reaction, however all she got was a blank stare. “I didn’t have to lie about that…. I know that you are amazing and are going to do amazing things.” Sara paused again. “Just not here. Or, well, not now. I know you’ve been through a lot these past few days… but the good news is you aren’t going to remember any of this when we get you back home.” Sara sat down beside the princess and held up the silver memory eraser flasher.

Xena gave a noncommittal hmmm and glanced back down at her hands. Sara was worried she really had broken the warrior. 

“I know you are upset your plan for revenge did not work out. But there’s a lot you are yet to do back in your own time,” Sara ventured, trying to put a spark back into the fabled warrior.

Xena looked up at Sara, “I just realized I’ve been lying to myself about why I have done the things I’ve done. What am I supposed to do now? I don’t have any idea who I am or what I am supposed to be...”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to know everything, all the time.” Sara put a consoling hand on Xena’s thigh.

“I always thought what I was doing was to make up for what happened to Lyceus… but I never thought about if it was what he would actually want.” Xena sighed. “Now how do I go back and live with the things I’ve done?”

Sara blew out a breath. “Unfortunately, there are more things that you are going to do that you are going to regret….” Sara scooted a little closer to Xena on the prison bench. “But eventually, you will come to your senses. You will do so much good for the world, Xena.”

Xena let out a harsh laugh, “A lot of good it’ll do after everything else I’ve done…”

“Life isn’t simply a collection of our good deeds and bad deeds. You may never feel like you’ve done penance for your actions but that shouldn’t stop you from pursing redemption.”

Xena did not look convinced.

“Plus, you meet your soulmate!”

Xena raised one eyebrow and gave Sara a dubious look. She scoffed, “Soulmate? Ugh I would never.”

Sara gave her a knowing smile back. “You would. And you do. And she helps you find your way.”

Xena rolled her eyes.

“You’ll love her. Eventually.” Sara gave Xena a kiss on the cheek. Xena scrunched up her nose and rolled her eyes, shooing Sara away. “And we’ll always be friends!” Sara stood up and yelled, “Gideon! Back to the time of ancient gods, warlords, and kings!”

“Ah, Captain. I’m going to need you to be more specific.”

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wife for helping me brainstorm, plan, and read through everything. I'm so glad you put your art history minor to good use!


End file.
